“. . . Copland-esque, but with Jacob’s own voice certainly present above all.”

-Dr. Tod Kerstetter

J. R. Thomas began his compositional career writing for musical theatre, working on a One-Act musical titled "Ivory". He is currently in the process of writing a full-length musical comedy in collaboration with Justin Mohn about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He has worked in scoring and recording soundtracks for both short and full-length films, ("Deranged", 2016; "A Blind Date", 2017; "Aimless", 2017).

He has worked in collaboration with Stephen Loch on multiple pieces for dance, (“Dance Suite No. 1”, 2019; “Between the Empty Spaces”, 2021), and has composed & recorded exercises for the Jazz class at K-State (2019). His experience accompanying and collaborating with dance has added dynamic and lyrical aptitude to his compositions— carrying the life of the music as if it were a dancer of its own.

In addition to composing, he has made a name for himself as a collaborative pianist, working with several community and professional theatre companies in the Kansas City area. Thomas has performed many world premier compositions by his contemporaries, including works for piano trio. Exposing himself to playing for Ballet, Jazz, and Modern classes has sparked a fervent passion for collaboration with dance and movement. His “Mantras” for piano are an ongoing collection of pieces crafted to exercise dancers’ improvisation and creativity— challenging the conventions of lyrical dance and blending elements of Jazz, Classical, and Hip-Hop in his works.